Hand Tools

YouTube is a fantastic place to learn woodworking. Free lessons, tool reviews and clever tips have helped thousands of people pick up a saw or plane for the first time. Beginner friendly content matters because no one is born knowing how to square a board or sharpen a chisel.

But there is a catch. More and more creators are chasing the same audience of newcomers. Their channels are filled with “Five Easy Projects for Starters” and “Essential Tools for Day One.” It makes sense from a business perspective because videos aimed at beginners draw the widest net, bring in more clicks and keep the ad revenue flowing.

The problem is that woodworking does not end after you learn to cut a straight line. It is a craft that can take a lifetime to master. When channels focus only on first steps content they stop challenging viewers and themselves. Viewers who are ready to tackle complex joinery, hand tool mastery or fine furniture construction have fewer resources to grow. Experienced woodworkers either tune out or keep rewatching the same introductory advice packaged with a different thumbnail.

This race for easy traffic also shapes the projects shown on camera. Instead of exploring bold designs or traditional techniques many creators repeat simple builds that can be filmed and monetised quickly. The craft risks being treated as a trend rather than an art.

Beginner content will always have its place. Everyone needs a starting point. But a healthy woodworking community thrives on depth. We need videos that shows the thinking behind a complex cabinet. How to construct a high boy entirely by hand without using machinery. How to carve the ornamental details that adorn the cabinet. How to interpret complex, fully detailed plans instead of relying on simplified beginner drawings. Learn to read and understand every component of a plan. How to prepare your own varnish from scratch. How to craft the specific tools required for a project rather than simply buying them.These projects inspire newcomers to keep learning and give seasoned makers something to strive toward.

If you create woodworking videos consider mixing it up. Teach a skill that took you years to perfect. Share the mistakes and the slow victories. Your audience might be smaller at first but you will be feeding the craft rather than the algorithm and that is what keeps woodworking alive.

We turn to little planes when the regular big ones, such as the #4 smoothing, #5 jack, and #7 jointer will not do the job or are awkward. These five little planes are worth having in my shop.  Left to right in the photo above: 1. Veritas Bevel-up #1. The blade bed is at 15°. […]

Tonight I learned, that Mike Wenzloff passed away 25/7/25. Thanks to Chris Schwarz to let us know: https://blog.lostartpress.com/2025/09/22/losses-to-the-craft-mike-wenzloff-charles-hummel

Mike Wenzloff and Leif Hanson are the two guy, who lead me into saw making with their Blogs and Forum entries. I spend the evenening rereading Mikes entries on UKW: https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/search/2338188/?page=50&c[users]=MikeW&o=date He was such a nice guy allways sharing his big knowledge. I missed him for a long time.  

 

The armoires

Now that the house is painted, my wife pointed out that one window on the back of the house needed shatters. I'm pretty sure that I meant to make these shutters for said window way back when but it never happened. I have a lot of things like this waiting to be done. Good thing I don't write any of them down but instead rely on my porous memory. Whacked out said shutters staying in the shop past quitting time to finish them..

3 coats

The 3rd coat went on this AM and after I was done I didn't have a warm and fuzzy that 3 would the charm.

big holiday missed

Not exactly missed but caught up. I wasn't to fill any divots or tear outs in the interior. This big one looked like crap and it is right where the snap catch will live - it would be highly visible.

might as well

Decided to address all the sins on the cabinet. Like the interior, I wasn't going to fill in any of them on the exterior. Initially I was just going to do the door and the front edges but that changed and my OCD is thanking me.

had enough

I had enough scrap pine in the shop to make one shutter now. The pickets have a few brown knots but I'm not obsessing about them. These are shutters and if the knots fall out it won't be that visible.

got lucky

One knot popped out when I sawed this picket out. I was able to saw this one out but the others are still around. I hit all of those with super glue, just in case.

totally clueless

Happy feeling with getting the first one done. Glue and 4 penny nails. I would have used screws but I didn't have any spax screws. The clueless part? Look at the angles on the two outside pickets.

fixed

I only noticed the angles after I had set it aside to cook.. Easy to whack off the offending picket and reposition it. 

hmm......

Sneak peek and I'm not liking what I see. I like the contrast between the two colors but I don't like what and where it is highlighting the cabinet. I'll wait until the AM, but it is a definite maybe this will be one color by the PM session.

Lowes run

Bought three 1x12's by four feet for the next project. I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to be short one board. Should have listened to the little man sitting on my shoulder.

two 1"x3"x6'

Bought 1x3s because they are already the width needed for the shutters. Needed 3 pickets and I have an extra for an oops.

not again

Made sure that I got the angles in the right directions this time. I remember when I made the other shutters the angles bit me on the arse a bazillion times.

sigh...

Houston, we have a problem. The cross batten on the bottom right shutter is off. Why is it that something as simple as this makes me feel like my IQ is a single digit number. There is absolutely nothing overly complex about this. At least I saw the misalignment between the two of them before it cooked.

whacked it off but it wasn't easy this time

I shitcanned the cross batten and made a new one. The nails are angled because they are 1 1/2" long and the two boards are a total thickness of 1 1/2".

?????

I think I'm getting senile or early dementia. Stared at this for a bazillion hours and for the life of me I couldn't say how I screwed this up so bad. I sawed off the overage and glued/nailed the new cross batten on.

done

Got to say it again, this simple project kicked my butt and drew blood. I can see myself not getting the angles correct - not checking before nailing - but how did the 2nd shutter pickets came out over an inch longer than the first one.

I rough sawed the pickets out to 33" long and to the final length of 32 3/4". Measured the first shutter at 32 13/16" long and the 2nd shutter at 32 7/8" long. Did I forget how to read a tape measure? I filed this away in the brain bucket for now. Regardless, my wife can paint these now. And I shouldn't have to make any more shutters before I take that dirt nap.

accidental woodworker 

The exercises proceed apace, building finishes and the skll set to accomplish them.

I fully expect to reprise this workshop at Joshua’s next summer, along with perhaps a couple other offerings.  Introduction to Parquetry is taking place the end of next week, so come on and join us.

 

The neck’s done, so in this video the body shaping is completed and a few other bits sorted out!

Cheers Gary

hmm....

Making a half round mortise. This was a bit tricky for me because one I've never done a mortise like this and two, it was difficult to find a chisel to match the half round curve. It was also hard to get the wall of it vertical, especially at the top of the arc - not enough room for my fat fingers and the chisel at the same time.
 

could be better

The fit is adequate but not gap free. The dark line is the pencil layout and there is a slight gap on the whole of it too. Not too bad for a first attempt.

makes it stronger

The little bit the half round fits the mortise is more then enough to strengthen and add rigidity to the handle. Now some of the lifting force on the handle will be borne by the ends of the half round stuck in the mortise.

1/8"

I think I can increase the overall strength by increasing the mortise to 1/4" deep. When I make the toolbox I'll layout and chop the round mortise before I glue the joint together.

premature

In the AM session, after I painted the cabinet, I thought I was done. It wasn't so boys and girls. In the PM session I found a holiday and boo boos on the back of the cabinet. OUCH. 

feeling better

The paint coverage improved overnight and it actually looked decent. I think two coats will do the trick.

glazier's points

I got these from the 'thecraftmanstore' dot com. Google is like sharp tools, it can solve a lot of headaches. I found these on the 3rd site I checked. I wish I could have bought the gun for these but I couldn't justify $275 cost. A wee bit expensive - 500 points for $28 delivered.

the wake up

I was getting giddy because I thought all that I had left to do was to paint the moldings and back stop the accent colors. Instead I found two large areas of paint build up on the arris on both sides of the back. Minimum of two coats of paint to cover after removing the build up down to bare wood.

accent color

At first I was going to cut in the accent color without the painter's tape. I changed my mind on that before I got 1/2 way on the first molding. I taped off all the moldings and slapped on the accent color lickety split. The first coat barely covered anything. I wasn't expecting that but I'll deal with it.

need a pusher

When I was kid (14-16) you could buy glazier point pushers at any paint store. Not anymore so I'll have to make one. I had two extra of these putty knives so if I screw this one up, I have a 2nd as backup.

triangular file

Initially it wasn't easy getting the 'vee' groove started I wanted. But once I got it established the rest went much easier.

done

The pushers I remember were slightly bent but this one isn't. I don't know how to bend this - the angle shouldn't be much more than about 20-30 degrees. I'll practice on scraps before I commit to doing the glass in the doors.

accidental woodworker

The client stopped by the shop and selected the tonewoods from my stacks of wood, they chose a torrified bearclaw Sitka spruce top and one of the finest California laurel back and sides sets I have ever owned.
The braces on the top and back are Engelmann spruce from local trees that I felled and cut for firewood.

 It seemed like events unfolded in the shop today in slow motion. I'm at that part of a project build were a lot of small things converge and eat up a ton of time. Spent both sessions in hurry and wait mode. It was paint something and wait. Apply wood putty to unseen divots and wait. Circle back to step one and repeat. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be the last one with these dance steps.

the fault of semi gloss

 A shinier paint will highlight sins more readily than a satin or flat one will. I had a lot more sins, divots, and tear out spots than I thought I had. After sanding the door (and the cabinet) with 220, they all popped out like someone flipped on a secret switch. Filled them in with wood putty and I already knew that it would take a minimum of two coats to cover it. Sigh - translation, it wasn't getting done today.

ugly looking

This divot wasn't that evident with the green paint. It popped out like lighted neon sign on a dark, foggy night with black paint. The other shelf edge had 2 similar divots that I had to deal with.

paint is next

I put all the retainers back where they will live and labeled the face of the retainer that lays on the glass. I will paint the adjacent face so I won't have to cut in around glass. The other unpainted face I will do at the same time I will paint the door.

sigh

It is going to take at least 3 coats to cover the molded edges. I was hoping to get away with two but that ain't happening. But the paint coverage got upped after I filled in the divots and tear out with putty.

two more minimum

Based on how the green paint covered with one coat, this will take at least two more. That will bring the total up to at least 5 and possibly 6-7. 

first coat

Not encouraging looking at how light this coverage is 30 minutes after I applied it. 

practice

I know what my next project will be. I saw a restoration of a lidded tool box on You Tube and I am going to make my version of it. The handle had two dovetails that were inserted into ends. It took me a while wrap the brain bucket around the orientation of the tails/pins. My first two attempts at layout were OTL (out to lunch) big time. Finally got it after penciling the layout I needed on the end grain vice the face grain.

the handle

I have an idea for the handle on the tool box. The ends will get the pins with and the area between them thinned down to the pencil lines. The You Tube tool box had the handle vertical to the end panel and I'm going horizontal.

hmm......

I left it a wee bit proud so I'll have wiggle room for trimming/fitting. As is this probably won't be strong enough to pick up/support a fully loaded toolbox. I do like the overall look of it but I think I will shorten the ends. Right now it is 2" to half circle cutouts. Maybe shave it down to 1 3/4" to 1 1/2"?

half round of red oak

This is my idea for strengthening the handle. Glued and screwed it should act like a strong back. The half round will extend over the handle ends and dead in on the toolbox ends. Plenty of time to work out the details. I don't have any pine left to make it with thought. Used up what I had left last week making the pic frames. I will have to make a road trip to Gurney's saw mill next saturday to replenish.

accidental woodworker 

nope

I beat on this for five minutes and it held. I even gave it flying lessons into the wall and it didn't even whimper. 

what will happen

I didn't have any doubts that the chisel wouldn't split it into two. The question after the splitting was the state of the glue joint. The glue line was relatively clean. There weren't any bits of wood bits still adhered to either piece. But that was encouraging - the bond appeared strong but split apart cleanly - that would make removing them easy if needed for any repairs.

cleaning the rabbets

Of the three tools here, the chisel proved to be the one that worked the best. The safety razor was the worse, even a brand new fresh one. The card scraper was simply too large. It was awkward to position it in the rabbet and scrape.

done

Took almost all of the AM session to scrape four rabbet faces for each lite. I didn't go nutso and get them all the way down to bare wood. I feel that I have enough bare wood to glue the retainers to.

build up

I have to paint this rabbet face again. Before I did that I scraped the build up on the edge (arris). I removed it so the glass will lay flat, with no gaps, between the muntins and the glass.

Wally World brush

This brush worked surprisingly well painting the rabbets. This is the one the glass will be laying against. After painting them I ran the brush along the arris removing any build up that was there.

clean

After painting the rabbets I had to paint the muntin faces (opposite side). Did the same after painting strokes ensuring the arris was clean of any build up.

first coat of black

It is going to take a minimum of two coats to cover the green. It might also take three and I'll find that out after the 2nd one. I didn't paint all of the molded profile - I just did the front edge and underneath.

hmm.....

The black is a complement to the green of the cabinet. I don't think painting this is going to mean anything. Once something is placed on the shelf it isn't going to matter if the front edge is green or black. But I'm committed to it either way.

accidental woodworker 

 Made good progress on the glass door cabinet. It is looking like there isn't much more to do with the cabinet. The painting of it is going to be slow with paint something and wait for it dry. Wash, rinse, and repeat a bazillion times. A bit tedious but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

the next 3 frames

Snapped a pic of the tool pictures for each of the frames. Dropped them off at the Frame it Shop after lunch. On the way back to the barn I stopped by Dairy Queen and got an soft serve. A medium size cone was $5 and change. Good thing I don't often get a urge to fill the pie hole with soft serve vanilla.

planed it

This AM the  two edges looked like crappola again. Felt smooth but I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with the look in raking light. Made two wispy runs with the block plane on both edges. Looking considerable better.

hmm....

At first I thought this was a pitch pocket. It looks like the remnants of a branch. I wiped it with mineral spirits and the rag came away clean. Just to be safe I brushed a coat of shellac over it.

semi gloss

I picked semi gloss because it should shed and not attract dust like stain does. The semi gloss doesn't look any difference to my eye then the satin. It lays downs and brushes exactly the same IMO. Ignore the big ass holiday on the edge. I've missed bigger ones and I painted this - after I had cleaned the brush.

it is going to be a PITA

 I went back to the shop after dinner and played with removing paint from the muntin rabbets. After 15 minutes this is as far as I got. The only bright spot with it is I only have to clean up one face of the rabbet.

done

240 grit sandpaper and a card scraper. A little over an hour to work the entire cabinet. Card scraper worked wonders on clearing and flushing the build ups on the square corners and the paint drips.

working well

24hrs out of the acetone and it is opening and closing freely. Not as loosely as its sibling but freely. I don't have any doubts installing it on the door and it not causing any problems.

test time

Painted one coat of semi gloss on this scrap of pine. The test is gluing the two together with hide glue and seeing what the outcome will be.

it is sticking together

Since I will be placing and gluing the retainers without clamps, I'll test this glue joint without clamps. The retainers will have a leg up to start with. The rabbet will have some paint but the retainer glued surface will be bare wood. Fingers crossed that this works out in my favor.

looking good

The only PITA with this setup is I don't have unfettered access to the shit can. I am not painting the bottom of the cabinet. It is plywood and I'm not obsessing about it because it will never be seen. Besides it would cover my burned in maker's stamp. 

After eyeballing the 2nd of paint I'm confident that I won't have to put on a 3rd. I might have to touch up a few spots that I scraped/sanded down to bare wood though. I'll find out that tidbit out in the AM.

done

Two coats - one satin and one semi gloss. Seeing the door done I'm convinced that keeping it the same color as the rest of the cabinet was the way to go. The accent color would be glaring to the eye.

4 hours later

The glue joint is solid. I couldn't break it apart with my hands nor after I beat it up with a mallet. Encouraging that the bond appears to be secure. I'll beat the snot out of it again with a mallet in the AM.

changed my mind again

My OCD with misalignment of the shelves and the muntins won out. I'm going to paint the molded part of the shelves. I'll slap on a coat of shellac after the black has dried.

#12 hollows and rounds

I've been playing with these every now and then. The goal is get proficient with them so I can make my own moldings. I know what I want and what I like but like everything else in life you have to expend the calories and put in the time. The goal is make at least one set of moldings before I take a dirt nap.

accidental woodworker 

Changing the pitch of a bevelled cutting edge is as much about a changed attitude as the physical change in steel. My hand tool woodworking is indeed high-demand woodworking, and guess what? We want it. When I plough out a groove using a plough plane, I am making a statement that says I want and...

Source

 

hmmm.........

Rethinking the paint scheme again. I'm kinda ok with what I thought I wanted yesterday but today I'm vacillating like a spinning top. That happened after I painted the top and eyeballed the overall look.

working

Still opening and closing smoothly. I don't have a warm and fuzzy with any residual RED locktite waiting to wake up and bite me on the arse. I took this out of the acetone at 0700 and at 1530 it was still opening/closing. Fingers crossed that in the AM it will still be the same.

getting ahead of myself

I missed sanding the end grain here and on the opposite side. Like an idiot I thought two coats of paint would smooth it out. FYI - it didn't. Sanded it down with 80, 100, and finished with 120. Repainted. Lesson learned?

a bit too bright?

This is the accent color that I'm using. This one really made me rethink what will/would be painted this color. As an aside, the coverage was almost one coat only.

too bright?

I was considering painting the whole top including the back stop the accent color. But the molding underneath being the same color would make it over powering IMO. I think a better choice is to paint the backstop and the molding underneath the top.

can you see it?

I painted a scrap of pine black and it is at the front edge of the top shelf. It looks almost like it isn't even there. Not sure I what to paint the shelf front black now. It is something to mull over and I have the time.

Changed my mind on the door. I was going back and forth between painting the muntins or the entire door the accent color. Instead I will paint it the same color as the interior/exterior. I think the liveliness of the accent color would over power the cabinet. 

made a boo boo

The plan was and still is, to glue the glass retainers in the muntin bar rabbets. I will use hide glue for that so it will be reversible. However, I painted the muntin bar rabbets and that will interfere with the hide glue. There isn't enough meat on muntin bars to secure the retainers with nails. I'll have to sand them before I glue the retainers on.

from the center out

Whatever type door you paint, it is always done first painting the center and working out toward the outside edges. Painting the muntins first allowed me to check and remove any drips or build ups. After that I painted the front face.

checking the fit

I had to trim a few of the retainers but they all fit. I was going to paint the retainers (two outside faces) but I ran out of time. I'll do that in the AM. Installing the glass and the retainers will be the last step for this cabinet build?

another boo boo

Missed planing these two edges. It was only after painting it that roughness popped out. I thought of planing it but instead I sanded it with 120 grit only. I kept at it until it felt/looked smooth. 

We are having the house painted. A handyman service working across the street saw my wife painting and came over and gave her a quote. $1500 to strip the shingles and brush/roll on 2 coats. Five guys and the first day they worked 10 hours. First coat went on today and I'm impressed with their work.  Sometimes luck walks up and gives you a big hug. 

accidental woodworker 

If you are going to put a lot of work into making a nice wooden small box, you might as well use fine quality hinges and possibly other products.  So, let us go through options of hinges, lid stays, and locks. I will make recommendations. I will hold off discussion of feet, nobs, and latches. […]

With the fretboard/frets completed, the next stage is to shape the neck.

Cheers Gary

Pic frames are done. I had a few minor touch ups I dealt with in the AM session and by the end of the PM one, fini. Started painting the cabinet. Shelves and interior of it have one coat, and some two. Projecting ahead I think the cabinet will be done painting sometime next week. Don't know who is getting this yet but I enjoyed making it.

oops, I've got a massive headache

This is one of the loose pin hinges that I'm soaking in acetone. I put some RED loctite on the screw portion and I spilled it. Got the loctite in places I didn't want it. The hinge was almost impossible to open after it was closed shut. A search on google said MEK (paint stripper) or acetone will dissolve RED loctite. 

After this soaking over nite, it is opening and closing a lot better. Still not as freely as its sibling but better than yesterday. I won't be needing this hinge for a while so I continued let it soak while I worked on other things.

found one

The 2nd frame I checked had one small nick here. I could see it without the flashlight and with it, it popped. It was the only paint hiccup I found on the 3 frames. I covered it with black sharpie marker and shellaced over it.

3rd frame hiccup

This one wasn't paint but shellac. In raking light I could see where there was a missed spot with no shellac. Easy fix - just apply shellac.

interior

I was happy and surprised with this first coat coverage. Pretty confident that I'll be able to get away with 2 coats - at least with the satin paint. I'll find out how well the semi gloss paint covers tomorrow?

PM session

Got two coats on the interior and I was happy with how it looked. Dropped the shelves in place and got one coat on them. I'll put two on the top sides and stay with one for the underside of both.

hmm.....

Satin paint on the back. Not sure if I'll stay with satin or paint it with semi gloss. Either way this first coat should help with coverage on whatever the 2nd coat will be. I wanted a sneak peek on how this color looked on a paneled part.

hmm......

Originally I was going to paint the muntins the light colored paint and the rest of the door the dark semi gloss color  (the same color as the satin paint but semi gloss). Eyeballing this I'm now thinking of painting the entity of the door front the light color.

maybe not

A light color will bring out a dark one (or is it the other way?). Will the light color on the door will pop the front edges of the shelves? I have to live with the shelf positions but I also want to minimize how much they pop behind the muntins.

Got a comment from Sylvain to paint the front edges black. Painting them black will knock down reflected light and fade them behind the muntins. I have black paint and I think I'll paint up scraps and see how they look before deciding what to paint what.

gone

I couldn't see the joint line between the plywood and the pine nosing. With the paint on I had to get up close and personal to detect the joint line. Not a big deal but I tend to obsess about gaps.

almost 8 hours later

Feeling better about this hinge. It is opening/closing is even better than it was when I checked it at 0700. I am going to leave it in the acetone over nite again. Tomorrow I'll take it out and dry it. Fingers crossed that the RED locktite isn't hibernating on me.

done

The first frame is already topside in the living room. These two joined its sibling at 1503. I need to take pics of the what goes in what frame before I bring these to Maria.

accidental woodworker

The description of this year’s class is identical to previous year’s so I thought I’d just have a gallery of student activities day by day.

I expect I’ll teach this again next summer at Wood and Shop.

I’ve written before about how influential Drew Langsner and his books have been in my woodworking life. But I haven’t mentioned much about his book The Chairmaker’s Workshop specifically. That’s my copy from the ’90s. I love it and I … Continue reading →